After Dumping the Scumbag Top, I Was Relentlessly Chased by a Top-Tier Idol - Chapter 17

Shen Xu pulled at the corners of his mouth and let out a bitter smile; his breath-holding skills were hardly anything worth bragging about.

He quickly adjusted his emotions. When he looked up, the gloom on his face had vanished, replaced by a feigned, stifled laugh: “Captain, your way of complimenting people is really quite awkward.”

Lin Yizhou looked at the man before him who was clearly forcing a smile and frowned slightly. Should I not have spoken just now?

“I’m fine,” Shen Xu said seriously. “Really.”

Just as he finished speaking, Director Tu’s loud voice, amplified by his signature megaphone, carried over: “Congratulations to Lin Yizhou’s team for winning the priority right to choose tools. Captain Lin, please come over and select the two tools your team wants.”

Lin Yizhou stood up. After a moment’s hesitation, under the gaze of the crowd, he reached out his hand to Shen Xu: “Get up, let’s go over together.”

Shen Xu was visibly stunned, but he reacted quickly. His smile grew along with the glow of the sunset as he placed his hand in Lin Yizhou’s palm, using the leverage to stand: “Alright.”

The two walked side-by-side toward the long table.

Reaching the table, Lin Yizhou picked up the military knife without the slightest hesitation, but he wavered on what to choose next.

Pei Yutai offered advice from behind him: “The military knife and the flint! They’re wilderness essentials!”

Shen Xu glanced at him, disagreeing: “I think a direct light source is a must in the wild—a flashlight. As for the flint, if you take it but don’t know how to use it, it’s just a decoration.”

Pei Yutai disagreed: “Starting a fire with flint is super easy. I’ve seen videos.”

With a lingering smile, Shen Xu’s voice turned cool: “Have you actually practiced it?”

Pei Yutai instantly felt guilty, but he remained stubborn despite his lack of logic: “No, it just looked easy when I watched the videos. Besides, that vlogger said fire is the ultimate wilderness essential. You need fire for cooking, warding off bugs, and all that.”

Wen Yue smiled: “To be honest, there are a lot of things online that I think I can do just by watching, but as soon as I try, I fail miserably.”

Hahaha, Sis, are you calling me out?

Laughing my head off, this is literally me.

Lin Yizhou was still hesitating. He turned to look at his teammates, about to say something, but was interrupted by the sudden voice of the blue-haired singer: “I want to know, is there any big shot here who knows how to drill wood to make fire?”

The scene went silent. No one answered.

No one knew how.

Lin Yizhou glanced at him, then turned back and decisively chose the flashlight.

Pei Yutai put his hand to his forehead and looked at the sky: “It’s over. With the flint, there was at least a bit of hope for fire. Now, there’s no hope at all.”

Lin Yizhou: “I know how to make fire.”

Pei Yutai let out a disdainful sneer: “Heh, you? I’d sooner believe pigs could fly.”

Shen Xu cocked an eyebrow: “And what about you?”

Pei Yutai:

Lin Yizhou didn’t say much more. Having chosen the items, he silently stepped aside.

It was the other team’s turn to choose. Nan Qiguang first selected the flint, then chose the trash bags—the most versatile of the remaining tools.

Seeing both teams finish, Director Tu raised his megaphone at the right moment: “I want to emphasize one more thing: the tools obtained by the two teams cannot be shared. If any tool is found to be shared or used commonly, that tool will be confiscated immediately. So, don’t go showing off any ‘helpful spirit’ right now.”

“From this moment on, we officially enter the first stage of the fifth season of Wilderness Survival. For the next three days, all guests must rely on the tools just obtained to survive on your own. I hope everyone can break through their limits and persevere!”

“The next few hours belong to you. You are free to act.”

As soon as Director Tu’s words hit the ground, staff members immediately came up to remove the long table.

Lin Yizhou looked toward the horizon. Only the last sliver of the sunset remained. Before long, it would be completely dark. Since that was the case, it wasn’t realistic to head into the forest to find a suitable campsite now; they would have to make do on the beach for the night.

He stood up and told his teammates: “It’s getting late. What we need most right now is wood for tonight’s fire…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Pei Yutai’s aggressive tone: “What wood do we need? We don’t even know where the fire source is coming from.”

Shen Xu put his arm around Pei Yutai’s shoulder, a slight smirk playing on his lips, his tone chilly: “Little brother, has no one ever told you that interrupting others is very rude?”

Pei Yutai flinched, brushed off Shen Xu’s hand, and ran behind Wen Yue.

Lin Yizhou ignored the interlude and continued: “Don’t worry about the fire source, I’ll handle it…”

He was interrupted again. Pei Yutai looked disdainful: “As if bragging is a hard skill.”

This time, even Wen Yue couldn’t take it anymore. She turned around, raised her hand to mock-slap his face, and laughed: “Xiao Yu, you’re not being very likable right now. Apologize to Yizhou.”

Pei Yutai looked reluctant: “Fine, sorry.”

Shen Xu’s eyes narrowed slightly. The orange-red sunset reflected in his eyes looked like a burning fire. His voice was cold: “If you think the Captain isn’t up to it, how about we leave the fire-starting task to you tonight? Since you’ve seen videos on flints, I assume you’ve seen videos on drilling wood for fire too, and that you’ve ‘learned’ it.”

Pei Yutai remained stubborn: “I’ll do it then. It’s not like I’m just a pretty face.”

The look in Shen Xu’s eyes turned completely cold: “And what if the task isn’t finished?”

Pei Yutai’s eyes widened slightly. Is he for real?

For once, he showed a hint of embarrassment.

Stiffening his neck, he said: “If the task isn’t finished, the penalty is that I won’t eat anything today.”

“You said it yourself.” Shen Xu tilted his chin toward the camera. “It’s all being recorded.”

Pei Yutai gritted his teeth: “I’m a man of my word!”

Shen Xu smiled slightly: “Good. I look forward to your performance.”

Pei Yutai:

Lin Yizhou glanced at the two of them and continued what he had been saying: “So we need to divide and conquer. We’ll split into two groups: one group will go into the forest to find dry wood, and the other will go to the coastal rocks to see if they can find some seafood.”

Jiang Siyuan spoke up casually: “I’ll go gather dry wood. I can’t swim, so I’m a bit afraid of the ocean.”

Shen Xu looked at him, hesitated, then glanced at Lin Yizhou and ultimately remained silent.

Lin Yizhou waited for a moment. Seeing that no one else spoke up, he continued: “If no one else has a preference, I’ll assign the roles as I see fit.”

“Jiang Siyuan and I will gather dry wood. The rest of you, led by Wen Yue, go check out the rocks.”

“What does everyone think?”

Wen Yue was the first to respond: “No problem for me.”

Shen Xu frowned, not expressing his stance.

Just as they were about to separate, Shen Xu leaned into Lin Yizhou’s ear and whispered a reminder: “Captain, remember our company’s slogan.”

The group split up.

Lin Yizhou led Jiang Siyuan to the edge of the jungle, lingering for a moment before entering the forest through a spot where the blocking vegetation was slightly less dense.

Inside the forest, many tall trees blocked the light, making visibility much lower than on the beach. Lin Yizhou took out his flashlight, switched it on, and motioned for Jiang Siyuan to follow closely behind him.

As the night grew darker, Lin Yizhou stopped. Estimating that the firewood they had gathered was enough to last the night, he said, “We won’t go any further. Let’s head back.”

He stepped forward, intending to lead Jiang Siyuan out, but before he could take two steps, his wrist was grabbed from behind.

Before he could turn around, he felt a branch pressing against the small of his back. Warm breath brushed against his ear, and a seductive voice whispered: “Captain, are you really not going to consider the proposal I made earlier?” As Jiang Siyuan spoke, he let go of Lin’s hand and moved his palm to Lin’s waist. “I think this place is quite nice. It would definitely be thrilling.”

“If you agree, I have a way to get rid of the cameraman. What do you say?”

A vein pulsed in Lin Yizhou’s temple. He originally intended to just keep walking, but Shen Xu’s warning suddenly flashed through his mind…

Lowering his foot, he bowed his head slightly, his somewhat long hair obscuring his eyes. He deliberately shifted the flashlight to the hand holding the wood, and with his free hand, he swiftly grabbed the restless hand at his waist, flipped it with force, and twisted it tight.

Jiang Siyuan cried out in pain but instantly stifled the sound, gritting his teeth hard to keep from making another noise.

Lin Yizhou pulled back slightly to create some distance. As he turned, he lightning-fast swapped the hand gripping Jiang Siyuan with the flashlight in his other hand. It happened in the blink of an eye—so fast that Jiang Siyuan didn’t even have a gap to pull his hand away.

The bundles of dry wood they were carrying served as a perfect screen for the “interaction” between them.

Lin Yizhou looked up, shining the flashlight around as if he were searching for something, but his voice was a low, cold warning: “After all that, aren’t you going to apologize?”

Jiang Siyuan continued to grit his teeth in silence. He tried to pull his hand back, but the moment he moved, the pressure increased, making the pain even more intense.

Lin Yizhou curled his lips into a cold smirk, his ruthless expression hidden by the night. His tone was indifferent, like a demon’s whisper: “Tell me, if I were to cripple this hand of yours and then say you broke it when you accidentally tripped later, do you think everyone would believe me?”

The uneven path and the pitch-black night were the perfect protective colors for anything that might happen next.

A look of terror gradually appeared in Jiang Siyuan’s eyes. He couldn’t imagine a life where he couldn’t use his hand to paint. He let out a sharp hiss of breath and pleaded: “I’m sorry.”

Lin Yizhou said coldly, “Don’t touch what you shouldn’t touch, and don’t think what you shouldn’t think. If there’s a next time, I won’t let it slide so easily.”

With that, he let go and walked past him.

He walked to a large tree ahead, raised his flashlight, and carefully inspected the vines growing on it. Once he confirmed they were a very tough variety, he set down his firewood, stretched his limbs, gripped the flashlight in his teeth, and climbed the trunk.

Beside him, Jiang Siyuan secretly massaged his wrist, watching Lin Yizhou with a dark, complicated gaze. But seeing the other man’s actions, his eyes gradually filled with a sense of intrigue.

He really should have investigated this “toy” better before coming here. He wondered how many more “surprises” this toy had in store for him.

Then again, wasn’t unwrapping surprises one by one a different kind of pleasure?

Seeing Lin Yizhou effortlessly jump down from the tree clutching the vines, Jiang Siyuan walked over as if nothing had happened and asked, “What’s this?”

Lin Yizhou was succinct: “A type of vine that can be used as hemp rope.”

Jiang Siyuan praised him nonchalantly, “You really are quite knowledgeable.”

Lin Yizhou remained unruffled: “I looked up some relevant information before coming to the show.”

Jiang Siyuan continued to ask: “And what are you going to use it for?”

Lin Yizhou: “Starting a fire, etc.”

Jiang Siyuan:

That “etc.” was certainly being used sparingly.

Once they emerged from the jungle, Lin Yizhou ignored everything else and began preparing to start a fire. He found a flexible branch, tied the vine to both ends to create a bow shape, and set it aside. He then selected pieces of wood to craft the other necessary components.

Jiang Siyuan sat nearby, watching him with great interest.

With the tools ready, Lin Yizhou began the “bow drill” method. He fitted a carved wooden stick into a notched piece of wood, looped the “bow” string around the stick, and began sawing back and forth.

Jiang Siyuan walked over, his excitement rising: “Is this a fire-starting method you invented yourself?”

“No.” Lin Yizhou didn’t stop his movements. “I saw a video before I came.”

Jiang Siyuan looked at the sparks in the wooden notch: “Is this your first time trying it?”

Lin Yizhou nodded. At that moment, sparks began to glow in the notch. He stopped, knelt down, and placed the dry leaves he had prepared as tinder into the hole.

With a slight turn of his wrist, he carefully guided the heat.

The sparks caught the leaves, and a flame gradually rose.

The small, fierce fire was reflected in his eyes, flickering and swaying.

Jiang Siyuan stared at the face illuminated by the firelight and smiled: “You should smile more. You look good when you smile.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the slight curve of Lin Yizhou’s lips flattened. He took the burning tinder and walked toward the pile of wood he had already stacked.

Soon, the small sparks grew into a blazing fire, bringing a corner of bright warmth to the pitch-black night.

He’s standing in front of the light he created himself. Oh my god, why do I want to cry watching this?

Lin Yizhou: ‘I know how.’ Action: Actually knows how. Me: ‘I know how.’ Action: Complete failure.

It seems like he knows how to do everything…

Here’s a horror story: it’s almost seven o’clock.

Just as that bullet comment appeared, the live stream was instantly cut off.

Lin Yizhou stared at the fire and said, “Sit here and wait for them to return. I’m going to walk around the perimeter to see if I can find anything useful.”

Jiang Siyuan’s eyes flickered. He originally wanted to go along, but remembering what had just happened, he nodded in agreement.

Today was definitely the most exhausting day of his life so far. Being able to rest now was quite nice.

After Lin Yizhou left, Jiang Siyuan lay down by the fire and looked at the stars in the night sky. For some reason, he missed Song Chizheng. If Song Chizheng were here right now, and he could lie on him while watching the beautiful night sky and feeling the cool sea breeze, it would be a very happy thing.

As he thought this, the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily. They say that when people reach a certain age, they start to feel things differently. He had wandered alone for over a decade and never felt like he missed anyone; this was the first time. It seemed he was right to choose this time to return.

The moon rose slowly into the night sky, casting a pale glow over the dark, deserted island.

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Xu and the others returned to the base camp by the light of the moon.

Seeing only Jiang Siyuan by the fire, Shen Xu immediately asked, “Where’s the Captain?”

Jiang Siyuan poked at the fire, causing sparks to jump, without even looking up: “He said he was going to walk around the area.”

Shen Xu frowned: “How long has he been gone?”

Jiang Siyuan looked up, a smile embedded in the corners of his mouth: “Why is Teacher Shen so worried? The Captain isn’t a child, after all.”

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